As a Bosnian who lived through the war, I appreciated reading an outsider's point of view on how he saw the conflict unfold in Bosnia. Author took time to explain the complexities of ethnic/religious/political divide of a complicated region where loyalties were shifting quickly but one main target remained for all parties involved, that is the Bosnian Muslims and their ethnic cleansing. Even now the Croatian and Serbian politicians and radicals are working to divide Bosnia and undermine the country in hopes to limit Bosnian/Muslim population. This book is a good read to remind how persistent and malicious the forces were and continue to be towards the Bosnian Muslims in the region.

Not going to lie, I bought this book mainly due to the title & the cover photo. I read this in high school, and only had a vague understanding of the Bosnian conflict. Though the full implications of the content probably went over my head, I still found myself loving the book for it's realistic & uncensored portrayal of war. It was a big departure from the novels I was reading at the time.

"What disturbs me most in war is neither the prospect of my own annihilation, nor the ease with which humans kill one another. Killing comes quickly enough and most people can do it when certain influences are either removed or exerted. Instead, it is the sight of the bereaved which chills my core. Such cruel, gratuitous suffering seems much more of a mystery than death itself, far harder a sentence to bear than merely dying."

A disturbing firsthand account of the Bosnian conflict. By no means a flattering depiction of the war, but more of a Hurt Locker / Apocalypse Now narrative. Unsettling description of several tactics employed by all sides in this modern but absurd confrontation.

I read this book when I was 18 and it blew my head off, I have read it a good 3 times since then becouse its one of my favourites. A savage tale of the Bosnian war, family and addiction, this book is not a easy or pleasant read, but its worth it.

I picked this book up to learn more about the Bosnian / Serbian / Croatian conflicts of the early 1990s. There is a lot of detail here, but it's very much a ground view and doesn't go much into the overarching political concerns behind the war. Perhaps that's the point - the picture painted here is of pure chaos, with little rhyme or reason beyond the clashes of various local power groups.
This book is essentially a memoir, so what we get is the author's experience during the war years, which consists of staggering atrocities and brutality, mediations on fear and war, and the chronicle of a heroin addiction.
It's a riveting read, and although I didn't always like the author, I found myself trusting his words because of the fearless way in which he confronts his own shortcomings, not least of which is the guilty truth many of us suspect - being close to war can be glamorous, exciting, and fun. Of course the flip side is that you see, hear and do horrible things that scar you and stay with you forever.
I recommend it to anyone with a strong stomach and a fascination with war, but it might be best to read it alongside a more detached or academic study of the Bosnian war, as this book doesn't answer many of the large questions about how that awful event came to pass.

This is an amazing read on the topic. It describes not just the facts, but also the mess these bloody wars were. I live in a country nearby and meet a lot of people who were a part of the conflict, this book makes it easier to understand relations between nations.

n  n
Following the resounding success of my Locus Quest, I faced a dilemma: which reading list to follow it up with? Variety is the spice of life, so I’ve decided to diversify and pursue six different lists simultaneously. This book falls into my GIFTS AND GUILTY list.

Regardless of how many books are already queued patiently on my reading list, unexpected gifts and guilt-trips will always see unplanned additions muscling their way in at the front.

I’m a sucker for confessions. Have you ever heard of a website called PostSecret? People create these miniature artworks to anonymously whisper their deepest secrets to the world. Some weeks they’re funny; some weeks they make my chest ache in sympathy. On the surface, Anthony Loyd has written a book about the Bosnian war, but as the pages flicker by it doesn’t take long to realise that this book is a confession. He’s shone a light into the darkest corners of his psyche and smeared his beating heart across the page. n  n    My War Gone By, I Miss It Son  n is brutal, it’s powerful and it turned me inside-out. Oh – and if you didn’t know already – it’s a true story.

Ant was a child from a broken home, who left the British military without seeing conflict. His London social circle was in a slow downward spiral of drugs and isolation. Ant decided to go find a war. Now, he does his best to rationalise this decision, delving into his formative years for memories of his venerated, mercenary-solider great-grandfather – but that whole line of reasoning never really flew for me – it felt too much like an attempt to squeeze emotional instinct into a nice, neat framework of cause and effect. The way I read it was simple: Ant felt great conflict inside, and sought an environment that would reflect that externally, as an attempt to understand it.

He gets himself a bare-bones qualification in photojournalism, a smattering of Serbian from a restaurant-owner’s daughter, throws some bags in the boot of a mate’s car, and heads off to the new war in Bosnia. He has no affiliation with a news agency, little money and some sketchy press papers – little justification and no safety net, but he goes – because he has to.

War... changes him. As a photojournalist, selling pictures of conflict, you need to get to where the action is. For someone with a borderline deathwish like Ant, this is not a problem – but taking decent pictures is. Ant scrapes by, pinballing from one battle to another, learning how to act cool and get by. At some point he gets a gig as a written journalist, something he’s never done before, and he just tells them straight-up what he’s seen. The newspapers like it, and the work gets steadier. Most reporters stay in the safe zones and write about what they hear, what they’re told – but Ant still works like a photographer, he gets right out in the thick of things and writes about what he’s seen. It’s an important difference.

Don’t get me wrong, you’ll learn a lot about the Bosnian war by reading this book, but it won’t be an analysis of political forces and tactical manoeuvres – this is a story of individuals, moments, sights, sounds and feelings. This is a very personal story of war.

Whenever it gets too much, Ant bolts back to London and his ever-quickening smack addiction. It’s either one or the other – war or oblivion – he simply cannot cope with the peaceful, civilian life going on around him. He cannot understand it, cannot connect with it and cannot endure it. Avoiding peace is Ant’s compulsion.

He’s a bright, articulate, passionate and at times darkly funny man. If this all sounds a bit grim and bleak – it is – but he writes with a rare and startling honestly which makes it eminently readable. As fubar as it seems, this is where Ant needs to be – this is the home he’s chosen and he’s in his element.

There’s a brief detour into Chechnya – the Russian separatist state – during a winter long ceasefire in Bosnia. The war there is a nightmare. They’re shelling the city into oblivion but the rebels are performing miracles. He doesn’t stay long – this isn’t his war.

Everywhere Anthony Loyd goes, he keeps his eyes open. He sees horrific things, but he also sees acts of kindness and strength. He remembers. He respects. He learns. These are the events which shaped the man who became a great journalist, The Times’ lead war reporter and winner of the Amnesty International Award.

I have my own personal connections with addiction and compulsive behaviour – which may well account for the empathy I felt towards this writer. I’ve never met the man, but I am proud of him for staking his naked soul to the page like this. I love the way this book does not end with a happy ever after, or a twist, or a symbolic dénouement; Ant’s conflict is not resolved, his journey is not over. His war is, and that’s going to necessitate a massive upheaval in his coping mechanism - or a new war!

I’ve not been to Sarajevo, but I have visited some of Serbia (Novi Said in particular) and that made it particularly easy to picture the landscapes and the hospitality of the people.

I can easily understand some/many people not liking this book and not liking Anthony Loyd – but this is one of those books I’m always going to defend. I felt a connection with the words that made me want to simultaneously give the man a hug and find my own war. n  n    My War Gone By, I Miss It Son  n is well worth a read.

After this I read: The Book Thief

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I decided to make the most of the baby's morning nap and get this review, which has been cluttering up my thoughts for the last week, written. I was most the way there when suddenly the PC makes a chiming sound - "Your computer is shutting down, do you want to save?" - I clicked yes, of course, because I had not saved it yet - so it ignored me and shut down without saving. Seriously? Wha-tha-fu?! Angry. Yes. I'm going away now.

Anthony Loyd goes to the war in the former Yugoslavia as an observer - well, let's be honest, a tourist - and then gradually succumbs to the fascination, tinged with shame, of observing something surreal, dangerous, and yet so central to Europe. The complex and cruel war in between Serbs, Croats, Bosnians, Muslims and other overlapping and changing factions was a gruesome continuation of centuries of internecine fighting that was only temporarily halted by the Tito regime - close to a quarter million people dead, yet curiously disregarded by the European press.

Loyd gradually becomes a war correspondent, seemingly more for financial reasons - and to have a proper reason to be where he was - than because of an interest in career. He turns out to be good at it, yet maintains his distance, and his heroin addiction. In the end you are left with painfully memorable descriptions of individual and mass tragedies - and you still don't know much about the person doing the reporting.

Amazing - nothing that I could write could do justice to what this book did to me when I read it.

Have you ever had a book hit you like a hammer blow to your head and your gut at the same time? That's what Loyd's writing did to me. Ricocheting between wartime and peace, jarring you out of your stupor with no preparation when he describes the horrors of war to begin a chapter, dragging you down with him as he sinks into his addiction to heroin - all this and more made for a haunting, unbelievable read.

There are few books that I have finished and immediately known I would have to reread one day, but this is definitely one of them. If you've ever been frightened of someone's descriptions because you recognized your own dark impulses staring back at you from the page you'll know what I mean.

Gripping first hand account of what must of been a brutal conflict and horrific experience.
Really enjoyed it.
Felt like i got to know a bit about the author aswell as the war.
Definitely recommend it.
Easily the best book I've read this year

Eerlijk gezegd snap ik nog steeds niet heel goed hoe het conflict in Bosnië is ontstaan en hoe het precies is verlopen. Anthony legde het wel uit maar op zo’n rap tempo dat het haast niet te volgen was. Wat zo ontzettend goed was aan dit boek was het verhaal van Anthony zelf, zijn verslavingen, moeilijke gezinssituatie en honger naar oorlog dat niet te temmen valt. Deze verhaallijn las ik met een ruk uit. Daarnaast worden de gruwelen van deze oorlog rauw omschreven. Mooi boek.